Măm Măm Vietnamese Kitchen

October 3, 2024

We finally have an authentic Vietnamese restaurant in Nairobi! Măm Măm is located at the Mwanzi Market in Westlands and is the first Vietnamese restaurant to open shop in Nairobi. I was very excited to try it out because they focus on Vietnamese street food and one thing about Asian cuisine, it’s gonna slap😋

The restaurant itself is such vibes already from the thematic red flowing through the place to the colourful seats and decor, it transports you to a place of fun, food and vibes. I absolutely love their rooftop balcony area! Comfy seating overlooking the leafy surroundings, perfect for a sunny day out or a nice evening catching the sunset.

The menu you guys… this is one of the best designed menus I’ve seen in a very long time. If you know me you know I love an aesthetically pleasing menu and Măm Măm did not disappoint. It’s large, it’s vibrant, it’s fun, it’s textured in all the right places, it’s inviting - it makes you want everything and that’s how a menu should be - it should draw the customer in from the very first page. They invested in the design of that menu and it did not go unnoticed👌🏾

So because the menu already had us wanting everything, we had to keep calm and practise some self control lol… I came here for dinner with a friend and we both decided we have to try the Pho. We got some starters first - mushroom spring rolls (KSH1200) and the shrimp spring rolls (KSH1000) and had the stir fried beef Pho (KSH1800) for our mains. I opted to have a coffee as well because I’ve always heard great things about Vietnamese coffee. I went for the salt coffee (KSH450) because it sounded intriguing by name alone.

Y’all… the Vietnamese can make a damn good coffee😮‍💨 That salt coffee was amazing! It’s a mix of black phin drip coffee, rich cream and a bit of salt… the result? An explosion of goodness in my mouth! Tasted like a salted caramel iced coffee but not as sweet as you’d think, the balance of salt and sweet is perfect. I dream about that salt coffee from time to time, so good.

The mushroom spring rolls were perfectly crispy, so yummy and bursting with flavour. They contain 5 different types of mushrooms in the roll and the different mushroom textures actually add to the taste experience - dip it in some sweet & sour sauce and you’ll be ordering more once you’re done with the first round.

The shrimp spring rolls are super FRESH! They are steamed and thus are very different in taste compared to the fried ones. Rolled in rice paper (which is very sticky btw), the roll has veggies and freshly grilled shrimp. We tried pho sauce and peanut sauce as dips and they were both so good! PS: the peanut sauce is spicy - just fyi.

Now for the Pho. I’ve had Pho a total of two times now. Once in NY and the last time was at the Arbor thanks to a friend’s recommendation. Both were insanely good. This stir fried beef pho warmed my soul. The beef is super tender, the noodles are filling, the broth is delicious. What I didn’t like was the amount of broth - it was too little for my liking compared to other Phos. The beef and veggie add ons felt more than the broth. I added some chilli because I like spice and squeezed some lemon in to add some tartness - the dish is quite filling though, I didn’t finish the whole thing. Is this pho good? Yes. Is this the best pho I’ve ever had? No. I actually think the one at the Arbor is much better if I was to rate the two of them.

I did not try the popular banh mi (Vietnamese street style baguette sandwich) as we had no more room for more food but from what I’ve heard from others who’ve tried it - it’s very mixed reviews… not great, not bad but not willing to try again, so you guys decide based on that if you’d like to try it.

The service here was good and fast… up until the time we had to pay. We couldn’t get any server’s attention for a while and that was frustrating. Granted they were a full house that day but if the service has been great throughout, the momentum should be kept until the very end - just my thoughts.

Overall I really enjoyed my time here. It’s a fun eatery that is perfect for events. I’ve seen that they already started hosting events so may go back for one or two. It’s also perfect for dates, be it a friend date or a romantic one - it makes for a fun experience trying a new cuisine. It’s also a great place for happy hour on their balcony deck, sundowners as you wait out traffic or where you can have a bite before heading to sherehe.

Love that we are getting more and more places that serve authentic cuisines here, I’m very ready for more of these😊